2014 F1 season

Kimi Raikkonen will return to Ferrari next season, five years after he was dropped by the team.

Ferrari confirmed the news on Wednesday, the day after Felipe Massa announced his eight-year tenure at at the team was coming to an end.

Raikkonen has signed a two-year deal to drive for the team who he last raced for between 2007 and 2009. A statement from from Ferrari confirmed he will “join Fernando Alonso in the driver line-up for the next two racing seasons”.

“I am really happy to be returning to Maranello where I previously spent three fantastic and very successful years,” said Raikkonen. “I have so many memories of my time at Ferrari, memories which have stayed with me these past years, first and foremost, winning the world championship title in 2007, which was really unforgettable.”

“I can’t wait to be driving a prancing horse car again and to reacquaint myself with so many people with whom I had such close links, as well as working with Fernando, whom I consider a great driver, in order to bring the team the success it deserves.”

Ferrari scored their last championship success with the Raikkonen-Massa partnership in 2008 and Raikkonen is the team’s most recent drivers’ champion. He will partner Fernando Alonso, the driver who replaced him in 2010.

Raikkonen and Alonso were championship rivals in 2005 while racing for McLaren and Renault respectively. They won seven races each that year but Alonso won the title with two rounds to spare.
It brings an end Raikkonen’s association with Lotus, with which he returned to Formula One last year following a two-year absence from the sport in the wake of his departure from Ferrari.
Alonso said: “I’d like to welcome my new travelling companion: together, starting next year, we will have to tackle a very demanding technical and racing challenge.”

“I want to thank Felipe for all the support he has given me and the team during this journey we have made together over all these years,” he added.

“Come the end of the season, it will not be easy to say goodbye to a team-mate like him. He has always been truly professional and loyal to the team and I am sure that right to the end, he will do his utmost for the Scuderia that he loves so much.”

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali added: “I am pleased to welcome Kimi back to the Scuderia, the team with which he won his world championship title.”

“I sense he is very happy to be returning to Maranello and very determined to tackle the work that awaits him in the best way possible.”

Domenicali also added his thanks to Massa for his eight years of service as one of the team’s racing drivers: “I wish to thank Felipe with all my heart and also on behalf of all our fans around the world, for the extraordinary job he has done for the team over so many years.”

“Felipe has always behaved like a real team player. Together we have lived through some great times and also a few dramatic moments, which have helped to cement a truly unique relationship on both a professional and personal level.”

“He will always be part of our family and we wish him all the very best for the future. Now we must concentrate all our efforts on the remaining seven races of the season and we know that, as always, we can count on Felipe’s contribution, while we work together to reach our goals. Our determination will not waver one iota right to the very end.”

Ah.. My prediction collapsed. But a lethal pair of drivers in the Scuderia. Forza Ferrari for breaking the no-two-roosters-in-hen-house jinx. Now I really hope Nico Hulkenberg stays in F1 next year let alone finding a top seat.

i read some where that eric boullier said there plan B is to give hulk the drive if kimi finally leave lotus.Pretty sure that we will get that confirmation soon,BTW hulk is the best amongst the rest of midfield drivers ,really wondering will massa get the drive for next year or its curtains for him

Wow- there we go! I was hoping The Hulk would get the seat but equally happy to see (hopefully) a Fernando V Kimi challenge in 2014! There are talks on an Alonso shift to Lotus if this were to happen, but I really cant see it. While Alonso is quite happy to have Phillipe have his back and take some points for the team and may not want a real equal at #1 (which Kimi will be……….. on paper) if he were to now shoot off to Lotus and get the protection of the #1 status he would loose so much credibility!!

I am not saying he is stoked to have Kimi there but Alonso is a guy that oozes talent & confidence and will just take it on board and set about beeting his new team-mate. His new team-mate, however, is not a shy lad sitting in the corner is he, and expects to beat Fernando…………….. I am REALLY looking forward to this one!!!!

I would have loved to see Kimi against Seb BUT my loyalty to my country meant only Dan could take that spot!!

The Hulk must now take Kimi’s spot at Lotus I hope! Not sure where that leaves Massa though. I have a heap of respect for Phillipe and to be honest would prefer to see him go elsewhere (like Webber) rather than drive around at a lesser team like Heike did- maybe to Sauber to replace the Hulk, but they need to put a faster package on the track than this year.

As for Ferrari “back-tracking” on Kimi I disagree with that. There may be history there but it was a long time ago and the team (any team) needs to look at their best options each year.

Has anyone thought Kimi HAS changed his difficult ways (at least a bit) and will be a better fit now compared to back then?? I think he has. Time will tell- but this is good news for F1 fans :)

Oh no. What a let down. Ferrari does not deserve to have a driver as magnificient as Kimi. Of course I’ll continue to support Kimi even if he’s driving for Ferrari (as I did in 2007-09 seasons), but when it comes to constructor’s championship I’m all for Lotus (and to some extent, McLaren).

I hope Ferrari will give equal treatment to their drivers. But knowing Ferrari, I highly, highly doubt that’s gonna happen.

@zippyone I guess you’re right. What I wrote above was emotional perspective, but when thinking with common sense I guess you’re right. Probably equal terms are being promised to him in his contract.

Lotus has seemed to be like a sinking ship with their constant financial problems, plus James Allison already made a move from Lotus to Ferrari. I believe that affected Kimi’s team decision quite a lot.

and what do you think is going to happen if Kimi wins it and the “leader” Alonso don’t?
what is it going to happen when he hear in his radio “Fernando Kimi is faster than you” will he move aside?
Will Kimi move? Will Kimi play the “slingshot” for Alonso?

@huhhii
If you have taken my comment as disrespect for your F1 knowledge then i apologize to you, I know that n° driver policy at Ferrari & team orders were part from Ferrari’s history since the late 50’s i read once that they used them with Mike Hawthorn in 1958
My point was that if Kimi who has been always very demanding would never agree to return to Ferrari if he doesn’t have all the necessary guaranties of an equal treatment with Fernando (engineers, equipment …..), he has already brought his race engineer with him

@tifoso1989 I didn’t find your comment to be disrespectful in any way. No hard feelings :-)

As I said above my first comment was more like emotional (never been Ferrari-fan as you probably know by now, and the news totally shocked me). Thinking with common sense Ferrari will probably let them race, otherwise Kimi wouldn’t have signed that contract with Ferrari.

I hope that now Massa knows his future at Ferrari that he can get at least another podium or, even better, another win. Without the constant pressure and doubts over his abilities he might have a long-awaited upturn in form. I think it’s something everyone would like to see and would be a fitting way to end his Ferrari career.

Not really.. Consider this: Alonso, Kimi, Vettel and Hamilton are essentially the top 4. Not necessarily in that order. People will disagree about the order all the time…

However if you have a single driver who wins the majority of the races while his team mate lingers back in 5th or 6th, you’re not going to have a constructor’s title (RBR)
But if you have two top drivers who will constantly battle for 2-4th (FER), while that other driver for that other team winning (RBR), you’re not going to win the driver’s championship.

It was unbelievable to think when the “silly season” has started that Kimi will drive for Ferrari, not a chance not in a million year especially when it was almost certain that Raikkonen will move to Red Bull but like the great Murray Walker says “In F1 anything can happen and it usually does” !!!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t know if we will still call it “Silly Season”

He didn’t screw them as they imply with that tweet (which I found really funny by the way, thanks for sharing it), they have no one to blame but themselves. It’s a sport and a business and Raikkonen has been lured away by a team that can offer him better sporting possibilities and a better business package. End of.

Honestly, I hope that guy is the next one to leave Lotus and finds a home in the US. It seems something Indycar or NASCAR teams would relish in (not in a negative sense, either), but for F1 it’s just a tad.. childish?

@cornflakes
This just shows how low is the Level of Eric Boullier, since Kimi’s come back he never stopped clashing Ferrari even Kimi himself said that he has nothing against his former team but Boullier was insisting that Kimi is now free he is not doing what he hates, we don’t have politics we have equal treatment blablabla……
I just want to see him now with the look of a “moaning child” on his face

Excelllent news, i respect Alonso massively as a driver but he’s had it easy since Hamilton beat him in 07. Its going to be crazy these two fighting it out in the same team, wow wow! As brundle said, if Kimi is ordered “Kimi, Fernando is faster than you”, kimi’s response would be “If he is faster than me, why is he behind me”. Massively exciting news!

He did indeed “beat” him; using the FIA sactiuoned method of countbacks (2nd places) in these kind of situations. If they were both fighting for the championship under the same conditions, the title would have been given to Lewis.

Yeah i tend to agree, McLaren were pretty bold about claiming they had ‘the best driver pairing’ with Button/Hamilton but have gone understandably quiet on that front since Perez came in…. They have good drivers, just none of the top 4 – they will need to have a reasonable car advantage if they are going to win championships with these two i feel.

Don’t mean to sound harsh on Perez, but he wouldn’t have been in my top 3-4 drivers for that seat from the available ‘young’ drivers at the time in terms of ability. I would guess sponsorship had a sizeable influence on the decision.

I agree. I think the problem is that Perez is bringing in Carlos Slim money which secures his place. Telmex may even be the team sponsor next year. Button makes sense as an “unofficial no. 2″ driver but not as the main man.

On this regard, I think Ferrari would’ve wanted a Raikkonen-Alonso partnership already in 2010, but sacking Massa after his crash would have been cruel, also considering he beat Kimi in 2008 and they were both pretty equal in 2009. That was a tougher decision than it was today, where one driver is clearly the slowest of the two.

Remember, in 2007 Massa was only a couple of points behind. And in 2008 he clearly had Kimi beaten, as he had been doing until his accident in 2009. I think Ferrari felt a bit let down by Kimi at that point.

@bascb Good point, but they kept Massa for three seasons after 2010. And the 2009 Kimi was miles better than the 2010 Massa. Kimi won a race, scored several podiums and showed he was good, I’d say at the end of 2009 Ferrari got rid of Kimi not because of his performances but because the other option would have been deemed unfair. Either way they had little to lose (they thought) because Kimi and Felipe were closely matched. With Alonso, they were almost certain to win a title with a good car, but then Felipe proved slower than expected. In 2010, Alonso-Raikkonen or Alonso-Massa for Ferrari would have been pretty much the same, but perhaps they saw Felipe as a better prospect for the future and, definitely, as more likely to help Alonso. Also, Felipe was initially signed by Ferrari in 2001, so they had a long relationship whilst the “cold” Kimi would’ve left without too much fuss.

Don’t think there will much in the way of fireworks or personality clashes, Alonso is a lot older and more mature now and the same for Raikkonen I would say, Ferrari have also seen how you can manage Raikkonen in a different way for better results.

But it’s certainly an interesting choice, that car needs to be very very good otherwise the abuse will come from both sides of the garage!

This should be interesting. I believe Alonso would have upper hands against Kimi even it would be very close. Also I think this is a great chance to confirm how post-2009 Massa is different from pre-2009

Exactly what I was thinking. Many people say something like “Raikkonen couldn’t even beat massa and Alonso beats him all the time”. What they don’t realize is, Massa basically won the championship in 2008. He was just as legitimate contender as Hamilton, Alonso and Raikkonen back then.

But then the injury occurred and after he returned, he was nowhere near what he used to be.

And I also believe Raikkonen is a better driver now, compared to 2009. I think spending some time in rallying (where mistakes are much more costly than in F1) really helped him become a more complete driver.

I see this said lots of times, that Massa’s accident affected him and he wasn’t able to get good results since. But I don’t believe this is actually the case. In the first few races back, he scored multiple podiums and put in plenty of very decent drives, moving consistently up the order from his starting position. As the year went on his results started to slip, and he fell into a slump from which he hasn’t really recovered. The point being that you can’t blame the accident for his poor form, even if I think most would agree he’s no longer the driver he used to be.

My take on it is more that Alonso has managed to systematically marginalise Massa inside the team through his relentless pace and methodical approach. The accident didn’t destroy Massa – Alonso did.

Yes, the accident might not have been the whole reason for Massa’s bad results, but my point was that you can’t really compare Alonso and Raikkonen based on their results against Massa. I often see people do that.